Adding a chapter to 'Silent Spring'?

"This forum is not about stopping towers altogether," said B. Blake Leavitt, a Warren resident and science writer who has published a book about the possible health effects of cell towers. "It's about safer siting. There are significant things communities can do to protect themselves. The decision makers need to know that there are better and worse ways to go about this."

While there is proof the electromagnetic radiation fields (EMF) can be harmful, circumstances factor in. Distance from radio-wave emitting towers, for example, impacts the health effects. But with cell phones and wireless internet bringing electronic signals in closer contact with the body, new studies are being done.

Leavitt calls the radio frequency (RF) exposures we now experience unprecedented. She sees a serious need for more research, stricter laws and safety guidelines, and a public prepared to speak out on the issues.

Cell phones can also pose a safety risk. she said. Drivers using cell phones are experiencing "mini-blackouts." An alteration in traffic patterns on major highways has been noted as distracted drivers frequently change lanes at inappropriate times.

In comparison with some other countries, the United States has done limited research on the risks posed by radio frequencies.

"In Europe, people suffering from electromagnetic hypersensitivity are qualifying for disability," Leavitt said.

In the United States, cities are establishing goals for complete WiFi coverage.

"New Orleans, after [Hurricane] Katrina may never see another land line again," Leavitt said. "The whole city will be WiFi when its rebuilt. Its citizens will be forced into involuntary exposure."

Leavitt compares WiFi to a microwave oven with a door or walls. Like those ovens and other applications, such as X-rays, exposure is carefully limited. But, she said, low emissions from televisions and a host of high-tech devices and their cumulative effects are being linked to maladies like asthma, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, autism and cancer. WiFi transmitters found on desks are being linked to eye cancer.

"This is not an aesthetic problem that can be solved with towers that look like pine trees or by hiding antennas in church steeples. We have 24/7 ambient RF exposure for the first time in human history. This is no environmental freebie and we shouldn't kid ourselves about that."

Starling Childs, a forester, environmental consultant and president of the Berkshire-Litchfield Environmental Council spoke about the impact the towers can have on other living things.

Childs said he is amazed that the concept of air as a habitat is just now emerging. Researchers have demonstrated that birds can see magnetic fields by way of a photochemical response in their eyes.

He also noted that an estimated 40 million birds die each year from tower collisions that occur during their annual migrations. It is believed the magnetic receptors that guide them to their destination may also be guiding them right into the towers.

"Silent Spring," the 1962 book by Rachel Carson that led to the ban of the pesticide DDT, should serve as a reminder, Childs said.

"The introduction of unnatural radio frequencies appears to be taking a toll on birds. We may be writing a new chapter to 'Silent Spring.' It's ironic that it was the thinning of egg shells that led to the DDT ban. We know that bird feathers are conductors of waves in the air. It's no accident they are arrayed like those old TV antennas on roofs."

Childs denounced the Connecticut Siting Council, in particular, for "shrugging off' concerns about a bobolink habitat at the Salisbury tower site.

"The Siting Council favors ridgetop siting, where we can have unfettered views of what the government has crammed down our throats. Can you hear me now?" Childs said sarcastically, in closing. "It favors monopines so the birds have half a chance with a softer bump on fake branches."

It was Dr. Martin Blank who opened with the Thurber cartoon. Blank is a professor of physiology and cellular biophysics at Columbia University.

He spoke of involuntary exposure to electromagnetic radio fields and compared it to concerns about second-hand smoke.

"It's easier nowadays to avoid second-hand smoke, now that smoking is banned in most public places. But EMF goes everywhere. You are in it whether you like it or not."

Blank is involved with research that shows radio frequency produces harmful stress responses in cells and can actually mutate or break apart DNA cells.

"A new, unpublished paper has findings that EMF is activating a particular gene that leads to cancer," Blank warned.

He spoke of a study that shows a marked increase in salivary gland cancer. The affected glands are beneath the side of the face, where a cell phone rests when in use.

"The Vatican was sued because they maintain a large shortwave transmitter in Italy linked to an increase in cancer. They were found guilty and fined."

The title of a scientific paper "Late Lessons from Early Warnings" sums it up for Blank.

"I'm not an activist, but I have no doubt in my mind we have to weigh the data and learn early, and advocate for regulatory agencies to use prudent avoidance measures."

One non-scientist on the panel was charged with making it easier for citizens to be informed and effective.

Whitney North Seymour, part-time Salisbury resident, attorney, former federal prosecutor and co-founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council, spoke of his ongoing battle to bring tower issues to light.

He blasted the Siting Council, claiming that it is in league with the telecommunication companies. The council has allowed power outage on towers to be increased without public notice or hearings, he said, and he accused them of "practically laughing" at Childs' concerns regarding the Salisbury site.

"There are ways to do battle," Seymour said. "It's no sport for the short-winded, but you don't need expensive lawyers."

The first step is "do your homework."

Seymour said about two hours spent at either wbioinitiative.org or emrpolicy.org will allow the layperson to become competent on the subject and educate others.

The Siting Council's Web site has links to lists of every petition and proceeding it has ever heard in each town, as well as modifications sought and/or approved for existing towers.

Citizens should contact state and federal legislators and demand stricter guidelines, said Seymour.

"They will listen and do the research if you demand it - or you need to let them know you'll vote for the other guy."

Citizens can also file a Petition for Declaratory ruling. It costs $500 to file, but Seymour advocated for residents teaming up to file.

A petition was filed recently in response to a proposed Nextel antenna in Falls Village, on property adjoining the state's largest fresh water preservation area, Robbins Swamp.

Among the enemies of safe cell tower siting listed by Seymour is the Federal Communications Commission.

"It's Web site declares cell towers as absolutely safe," Seymour said. "That was based in criteria from 20 years ago."

He quoted his favorite author, Mark Twain: "In 20 years you won't regret the things you did. You'll regret the things you didn't do."